1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an air-cooling device for a coil for urinary incontinence treatment, used for air-cooling a coil to which pulse current or alternating current is supplied to generate magnetic fluxes toward a range from a front of the urethral orifice to a rear of the anus, to induce eddy currents in a living body, thereby treating urinary incontinence.
2. Related Art
A proposed urinary incontinence treatment apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,854. In the proposed apparatus, a magnetic stimulation coil which is disposed on a coil mount to be placed in a room, and which generates repetitive pulse-like magnetic fluxes is set in a portion in a range from the waist of a patient to a lower limb region, and the pelvic floor muscles, pudendal nerves, and the like are stimulated by eddy currents due to magnetic fluxes penetrating the body. In this case, in order to generate a sufficient amount of magnetic fluxes, large current must be supplied to the coil. Therefore, also a cooling device has been proposed in the publication. The air-cooling device is used for circulating water through the coil in order to prevent the patient from suffering low- or high-temperature burn due to heat generation of the coil, and to prevent the efficiency from being lowered by the direct current resistance of the coil which is increased as a result of temperature rise. In the publication, also a technique in which the coil may be cooled by a fan or a Peltier element is suggested.
However, since large current is needed for the device, heat generation of the coil is also large. In order to reduce the temperature rise of the coil by heat generation and also in the case of using core(s), the heat generation of the core(s) by eddy currents, a device in which water is circulated or a Peltier element is used has problems to be solved, namely, a bulky structure, a large power consumption, and a high cost. Furthermore, it is difficult to attain a sufficient cooling effect by simply attaching a fan in the side of or in the front (rear) side of a cored-coil and blowing air in one direction with the fan.
In view of these problems, it is an object of the invention to provide an air-cooling device for a coil for urinary incontinence treatment which can be efficiently force-cooled by using a blower.
In order to attain the object, according to a first aspect of the invention, the invention is an air-cooling device for a coil for urinary incontinence treatment, used for air-cooling a coil to which pulse current or alternating current is supplied to generate magnetic fluxes toward a range from a front of an urethral orifice to a rear of an anus, to induce eddy currents in a living body, thereby treating urinary incontinence, and characterized in that a coil is housed in a box having an upper board which is electrically insulative and nonmagnetic, the coil being wound along the box upper board, an air way is formed in a bottom board of the box, a blower is attached to the air way, and a second air way is formed in a region of a side board of the box, the region being opposed to the coil.
Since the coil is wound along the box upper board, magnetic fluxes can be generated in an upward direction from the box upper board. The sitting patient is isolated from the coil and the generated magnetic fluxes are not confined into the box, because the box upper board is electrically insulative and nonmagnetic. Air pathways which pass over the vicinity of the coil are formed between the air ways of the box bottom board and the box side boards as a result of suction and discharge of the blower.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to efficiently air-cool the coil in the case where the coil is a solenoid coil directed toward the box bottom board, the position of said second air way is equal to or higher in height than that of said coil.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in order to efficiently concentrate magnetic fluxes when the box upper board is formed to have a concave surface so as to correspond to the portion on which the patient is to sit, the box upper board is formed to have a concave surface, and an upper face of the coil is inclined along the box upper board.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in order to attain the object in the case where the coil is provided with a core, a core which has front and rear side legs and around which a coil is wound is housed in a box having an upper board which is electrically insulative and nonmagnetic, the legs elongating toward the box upper board, an air way is formed in a bottom board of the box, a blower is attached to the air way, and a second air way is formed in at least one of box side boards, the second air way cooperating with the first air way to form an air pathway through the coil and the core.
Magnetic fluxes can be upward generated between the end faces of the front and rear side legs which are directed toward the box upper board. Air pathways which pass over the vicinities of the coil and the center core are formed between the air ways of the box bottom board and the box side board(s) as a result of suction and discharge of the blower. In view of efficiency, preferably, the air way of the box side board is set to be in a region opposed to the coil, or, in the case where the coil is wound around a bottom portion of the core, in a region above the coil and opposed to an upper portion of the core. In the case of a cored coil, magnetic fluxes are more concentrated even at the same coil current compared to an air-core coil, so that stimulation can be efficiently performed.
In the case of an E-type core, according to a fifth aspect of the invention, the core has an E-like shape in which a center leg is formed between the front and rear side legs, the coil being wound around the center leg, and the second air way of the box side board is formed in a region opposed to the coil. Magnetic fluxes are generated between the center leg and the front and rear side legs, and can be concentrated particularly to the center leg. According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in order to concentrate magnetic fluxes more efficiently in the case of a cored coil, the front and rear side legs protrude from the box to a level which is higher than the box upper board.
According to an eighth aspect of the invention, in order to perform forced cooling more efficiently, a conductive member constituting the coil is wound with forming a gap over a whole periphery of the coil. In the case of a cored coil, a spacer may be interposed between the coil and the core. According to a ninth aspect of the invention, with the same object, heat radiating fins are attached to the coil in radial directions. According to a tenth aspect of the invention, in the case of a cored coil, heat radiating fins are attached to the core in radial directions.
When the air-cooling device is configured as an urinary incontinence treatment apparatus, according to an eleventh aspect of the invention, legs are downward disposed on the bottom board of the box, the legs being used for placing the box under a state where the blower is separated from a floor to enable the box itself to function as a chair.
In order to configure an urinary incontinence treatment apparatus which is incorporated into a chair, and which has a high air cooling efficiency, according to a twelfth aspect of the invention, the box is mounted in the seat portion which is attached between side portions each constituting a leg and an armrest of the chair, ducts are respectively formed between the box side boards and the side portions opposed to the box side boards, the blower is placed to the bottom board of the ducts, cutout portions communicating with the ducts are formed in side end portions of the-seat portion, respectively, and ventilation cutout portions are formed in intermediate regions in anteroposterior directions of the side portions and in side areas of the blower.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the invention, in order to further enhance the air cooling function, the coil is configured by a pipe-shaped conductor member, ends of the conductor member are connected to side faces of the box, one of the ends is opened in air, and a blower is attached to another one of the ends.